NXT Takeover: San Antonio
San Antonio, TX
Freeman Coliseum
1/28/17
San Antonio, TX
Freeman Coliseum
1/28/17
At the beginning of the pre-show Corey Graves announced this Wednesday would be the last NXT show he will be on as he is moving away from NXT so he can focus on his duties for Raw, in his place will be Nigel McGuinness.
We also got the reveal of the winners of the 2016 NXT Awards and the winners were:
NXT Breakout Star of the Year: Peyton Royce & Billie Kay
NXT Match of the Year: DIY v.s. Revival at NXT Takeover: Toronto
NXT Tag Team of the Year: The Revival
NXT Female Competitor of the Year: Asuka
NXT Male Competitor of the Year: Shinsuke Nakamura
NXT Overall Competitor of the Year: Shinsuke Nakamura
My last note on the pre-show has to do with when they were discussing the women's title match and they had Ember Moon on the panel to talk about the match and I have to say she came off awful here. Ember was making these faces where she didn't know whether she was suppose to smile or be serious and she also didn't know how to answer very simple questions, every time she would be asked a question she would begin replying to it by restating what the question was like she was stalling to come up with an answer. I have had problems with Ember since her debut and I don't think it's all her fault, I feel the Ember moon character is very inconsistent. I thought Ember was suppose to be this dark mysterious creepy character, but nothing that she does fits that except having the red eyes. She comes out smiling and it's not even a creepy smile and then I heard on this past week's NXT that they say she is from Dallas, TX, Why is a dark mysterious creepy character coming from Dallas, TX? Between all of that and the fact I found out how bad she is at speaking and also coming off as a one move wrestler has made me move away from wanting to see her against Asuka (although we will probably get that).
NXT Match of the Year: DIY v.s. Revival at NXT Takeover: Toronto
NXT Tag Team of the Year: The Revival
NXT Female Competitor of the Year: Asuka
NXT Male Competitor of the Year: Shinsuke Nakamura
NXT Overall Competitor of the Year: Shinsuke Nakamura
My last note on the pre-show has to do with when they were discussing the women's title match and they had Ember Moon on the panel to talk about the match and I have to say she came off awful here. Ember was making these faces where she didn't know whether she was suppose to smile or be serious and she also didn't know how to answer very simple questions, every time she would be asked a question she would begin replying to it by restating what the question was like she was stalling to come up with an answer. I have had problems with Ember since her debut and I don't think it's all her fault, I feel the Ember moon character is very inconsistent. I thought Ember was suppose to be this dark mysterious creepy character, but nothing that she does fits that except having the red eyes. She comes out smiling and it's not even a creepy smile and then I heard on this past week's NXT that they say she is from Dallas, TX, Why is a dark mysterious creepy character coming from Dallas, TX? Between all of that and the fact I found out how bad she is at speaking and also coming off as a one move wrestler has made me move away from wanting to see her against Asuka (although we will probably get that).
Match #1
Eric Young w/ Sanity def Tye Dillinger
Eric Young w/ Sanity def Tye Dillinger
At the start of the match EY takes his jacket off and throws it at Tye and tells him he has one more chance to join them, Tye thinks about it for a minute and then throws it into the face of EY and starts punching him. The first few minutes of this match I started getting annoyed as every time I felt the match was picking up pace in the ring they would go to the outside and they did this a few times in the span of like 5 minutes. We got some early interference from Sanity with Killian Dane hitting a vicious looking cross body on Tye. This would allow EY to take control for a while until he would get caught coming off the top with a dropkick. EY gets the better of an exchange of strikes and screams at a grounded Tye and Tye reaches up and grabs a hold of EY's beard. EY is caught coming off the top with a dropkick. EY goes up top and Tye channels his inner Kurt Angle and hops up and hits a belly to belly off the top. Tye pulls down the knee pad looking for the Tye Breaker, but Alexander Wolfe gets on the apron and Tye decides to bring him into the ring and hits him with the Tye Breaker. Dane then gets hit with a superkick from Tye. This distraction allows EY to hit Tye from behind. EY sets him up for the wheelbarrow necbreaker, but Tye counters it into a roll up for a 2 count. Tye then hits the Tye Breaker on EY, but it only gets a 2 as Wolfe puts the foot of EY on the ropes. Tye dives on top of Dane & Wolfe and then gets back into the ring and hits a cross body on EY, but he rolls through for a 2 count. Tye hits a baseball slide on Dane and then tries to skin the cat to get back into the ring, but EY grabs his legs and hits the wheelbarrow neckbreaker for the win. I like how instead of having Tye lose due to Sanity's interference he lost because he was too preoccupied with keeping them out of the match. I have to wonder what is next for The Perfect 10, maybe they run a story where he may lose all year, but he will not lose at the Takeover that's on Mania weekend and if he does he leaves NXT. Rating: ***1/4
Match #2
Roderick Strong def Andrade Cien Almas
Finally Andrade Cien Almas has a match that I actually got into and enjoyed. Up until this match I had lost all faith in Almas as nothing he was doing really impressed me, which was a shame as I was excited for him to debut last year after watching him have a really good match against Nakamura at an NXT house show I went to, I guess it just took the right opponent for him to really be able to show just how good he can be.
This match starts out with some pretty good mat work and neither man can get the advantage. Strong whips Almas into the ropes and he goes tranquilo. Strong hits some chops and a backbreaker. They then fight in the corner and Almas stomps him down. Almas then takes a running charge at Strong and just as it looks like he is gonna jump on him he stops and slaps the crap out of Strong. Strong tries for a suplex on Almas, but he counters it and lands on the apron and then locks in a hanging cross arm breaker on the ropes. Almas looks to hit a flying back elbow into the corner, but is caught by Strong and it looks like Strong wants to hit a half nelson backbreaker, but Almas snapmares him and hits him with a single leg dropkick for a 2 count. Almas then puts Strong in a fujiawara armbar. Strong rolls out of it, but gets slammed on the bad arm. Almas goes for the double knees moonsault, but Strong avoids him and hits him with a high angle back suplex. Strong hits some chops and forearms and then fakes a run off the ropes and hits Almas with a kick to the head. Strong then hits him with a gourd buster. Strong hits a running high knee in the corner followed by a dropkick to take Almas down. Strong charges Almas in the corner, but Almas gets a boot up. Almas goes up to the middle to an attempt something, but Strong jerks him by the leg and catches him with a backbreaker for 2. Strong is looking for the half nelson backbreaker again, but Almas goes behind and hits him with a bridging german suplex for 2. Almas hits a one arm power bomb for 2. They trade elbows until Almas kicks Strong sending him into the corner. Almas goes for his running double knees into the corner, but is caught with a big running knee. They trade forearms and Strong hits a big boot which fires up Almas as he goes for a boot of his own, but is caught with an attempted backbreaker, but he rolls through it and locks in an modified Rings of Saturn, but Strong gets to the ropes. Alamas goes up top, but Strong crotches him and hits him with a backbreaker on the top turnbuckle for a 2 count. Strong wants to hit the fireman's carry gutbuster, but Almas reverses it into a hamerlock DDT, but Strong gets out of that by ramming Almas into the corner. Strong charges at Almas, but gets a hip toss into the corner. Almas goes for the corner double knees again, but Strong moves and goes to the ropes only to be met with a clothesline from Almas. Almas then is successful in hitting the knees in the corner, Almas goes for the hammerlock DDT, but Strong reverses it and hits a high knee strike and then slams Almas down face first into the mat and then hits Almas with the Sick Kick for the win. This was really good for a match that was put on the card at last minute, both men got to shine here and most importantly this was the best showing Almas has had since debuting and I hope we see more of the Almas and not the Almas that looks completely unmotivated. Rating: ***3/4
Roderick Strong def Andrade Cien Almas
Finally Andrade Cien Almas has a match that I actually got into and enjoyed. Up until this match I had lost all faith in Almas as nothing he was doing really impressed me, which was a shame as I was excited for him to debut last year after watching him have a really good match against Nakamura at an NXT house show I went to, I guess it just took the right opponent for him to really be able to show just how good he can be.
This match starts out with some pretty good mat work and neither man can get the advantage. Strong whips Almas into the ropes and he goes tranquilo. Strong hits some chops and a backbreaker. They then fight in the corner and Almas stomps him down. Almas then takes a running charge at Strong and just as it looks like he is gonna jump on him he stops and slaps the crap out of Strong. Strong tries for a suplex on Almas, but he counters it and lands on the apron and then locks in a hanging cross arm breaker on the ropes. Almas looks to hit a flying back elbow into the corner, but is caught by Strong and it looks like Strong wants to hit a half nelson backbreaker, but Almas snapmares him and hits him with a single leg dropkick for a 2 count. Almas then puts Strong in a fujiawara armbar. Strong rolls out of it, but gets slammed on the bad arm. Almas goes for the double knees moonsault, but Strong avoids him and hits him with a high angle back suplex. Strong hits some chops and forearms and then fakes a run off the ropes and hits Almas with a kick to the head. Strong then hits him with a gourd buster. Strong hits a running high knee in the corner followed by a dropkick to take Almas down. Strong charges Almas in the corner, but Almas gets a boot up. Almas goes up to the middle to an attempt something, but Strong jerks him by the leg and catches him with a backbreaker for 2. Strong is looking for the half nelson backbreaker again, but Almas goes behind and hits him with a bridging german suplex for 2. Almas hits a one arm power bomb for 2. They trade elbows until Almas kicks Strong sending him into the corner. Almas goes for his running double knees into the corner, but is caught with a big running knee. They trade forearms and Strong hits a big boot which fires up Almas as he goes for a boot of his own, but is caught with an attempted backbreaker, but he rolls through it and locks in an modified Rings of Saturn, but Strong gets to the ropes. Alamas goes up top, but Strong crotches him and hits him with a backbreaker on the top turnbuckle for a 2 count. Strong wants to hit the fireman's carry gutbuster, but Almas reverses it into a hamerlock DDT, but Strong gets out of that by ramming Almas into the corner. Strong charges at Almas, but gets a hip toss into the corner. Almas goes for the corner double knees again, but Strong moves and goes to the ropes only to be met with a clothesline from Almas. Almas then is successful in hitting the knees in the corner, Almas goes for the hammerlock DDT, but Strong reverses it and hits a high knee strike and then slams Almas down face first into the mat and then hits Almas with the Sick Kick for the win. This was really good for a match that was put on the card at last minute, both men got to shine here and most importantly this was the best showing Almas has had since debuting and I hope we see more of the Almas and not the Almas that looks completely unmotivated. Rating: ***3/4
Match #3
The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering def #DIY (c) (NXT Tag Team Championship)
This was a match I absolutely wasn't looking forward to as we had been spoiled by the DIY vs Revival matches last year and I was disappointed this was the next chapter (no pun intended) for the NXT tag team division as I knew it wouldn't live up to the series of matches from last year. I was right that it didn't live up to the DIY vs Revival matches as that would be pretty difficult to do, but with that said it did indeed exceed my expectations.
The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering def #DIY (c) (NXT Tag Team Championship)
This was a match I absolutely wasn't looking forward to as we had been spoiled by the DIY vs Revival matches last year and I was disappointed this was the next chapter (no pun intended) for the NXT tag team division as I knew it wouldn't live up to the series of matches from last year. I was right that it didn't live up to the DIY vs Revival matches as that would be pretty difficult to do, but with that said it did indeed exceed my expectations.
I think The Authors of Pain are going to become the new Bushwhackers for me in that I can't tell them apart, I've been watching wrestling for years and watched plenty of Bushwhacker matches and I still can't tell Butch from Luke. When I was a kid I also had this problem with Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz, & Too Cool for some reason, but I eventually figured those out. As the Authors come to the ring it looks like they have either been in Kane's closet or looking around the WWE warehouse as they are wearing masks that look a lot like the welders mask Kane wore during his return in 2012 in his God awful feud with John Cena. They also are wearing nets for some reason.
As soon as the bell rings Rezar goes after Ciampa with a clothesline, but Ciampa ducks and Rezar goes over and chokes Gargano. Ciampa lands a few shots, but Rezar able to overpower him easily. Ciampa tries to go after the arm of Rezar, but gets kicked in the gut. Ciampa blocks a power bomb attempt twice and on the third try slips out the back and makes a tag to Gargano. Gargano tries for his slingshot spear, but is swatted down. Rezar tries for a power bomb on Gargano, but he fights out of it with punches to the head. All four men get in the ring and Gargano hits a superkick on Akem and Ciampa hits a knee strike on Rezar. DIY clothesline Rezar to the floor and Ciampa hits a knee knocking Akem off the apron. Gargano hits suicide dives on both men on opposite sides of the ring. Ciampa comes off the apron with a flying knee to the head of Akem. Gargano tries for his slingshot DDT from the apron to the inside of the ring, but is caught by Rezar and carried to the other side of the ring. Gargano hits a kick from the apron to the inside on Rezar and a superkick to Akem. Gargano is then knocked off the apron by Rezar and hits the barricade face first. Rezar tags in Akem and he goes out and puts Gargano over his shoulder and carries him up the steps and throws him into the ring very hard. Akem puts Gargano in the AOP corner and stomps away at him as Paul Ellering is talking trash to Gargano and then tags in Rezar who also stomps away at Gargano. Rezar then puts Gargano in a Canadian backbreaker. Gargano gets out of it and goes to the corner and then moves out of the way of Rezar who is running at him. Gargano tries to make a tag, but Rezar grabs him by the leg. Gargano hits an enzuigiri and this barely even hurts Rezar as he doesn't even let go of the leg of Gargano. Rezar tags in Akem and they hit a backbreaker and foot stomp combo for a 2 count. Akem pulls Gargano to the outside and tries to clothesline him, but Gargano ducks and Akem runs into the ring post. Gargano starts trying to make his way to tag in Gargano, but Akem comes back in and tries to knock Ciampa off the apron, but he ducks so Akem tries an elbow drop on Gargano, but he moves and finally Gargano makes the hot tag to Ciampa. Ciampa hits a diving clothesline on Akem and a running knee lift on Rezar. Ciampa hits another knee strike on Akem and a running back elbow on Rezar. Ciampa hits big german suplexes on both members of AOP. Ciampa measures Akem and hits him the the sliding knee for a 2 count. Ciampa lands strike after strike on Akem, but he won't stay down. Ciampa runs to the ropes and gets caught with a big clothesline by Akem for a 2 count. Ciampa is alone with AOP as they try for some sort of double team move, but Cimapa gets out of it and sends Rezar out of the ring. Gargano makes a blind tag and DIY hit Akem with a double slingshot spear for a 2 count. Its at this time I come to realize that Paul Ellering has been more vocal in this match than he has the entire time since he has returned. Gargano tags Ciampa in and they go for the double kicks in the corner, but Akem moves and then clotheslines Gargano off the apron. AOP hits a power bomb and neckbreaker combo for a 2 count. Akem tags in Rezar and they go for The Last Chapter, but Gargano runs interference and hits a superkick on Rezar. Ciampa rolls up Akem and transitions into his bridging arm bar submission finisher and at the same time Gargano locks in his crossface finisher on Rezar as they tease this match ending just like the one in Toronto did against The Revival. Rezar powers out of it and picks up Gargano and powerslams him into Ciampa to break the hold. All four men are on their knees trading shots and for every two or three shots DIY gives that only dazes AOP the AOP give them one back that knocks them on their back for a second. DIY finally get to their feet and lay in punch after punch on AOP while they are still on their knees as now the height advantage is in DIY's favor. Gargano hits a superkick on one and Ciampa hits a knee on the other as they are back down on their knees. DIY are looking for their superkick and knee strike sandwich combo, but at the last second AOP catch them and lift them up and hit the Super Collider. Akem tags Rezar in and they hit The Last Chapter on Ciampa for the win and to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions. This was actually even better than I first thought after watching it again and even though I wasn't looking forward to this match coming into the show I now want to see a rematch between these two teams and this match showed that just like Andrade Almas with the right opponent these guys can look like gold. Rating: ****
We go back to the announce booth and out of nowhere Seth Rollins shows up in the ring calling out Triple H as he knows he's back there. Triple H comes out, but signals for security to escort Rollins out of the building. Rollins does his best to fight them off and even leaves the ring headed to the back after Triple H, but more security comes out and it's too much for him to handle as they take him out of the arena. This was a nice surprise and a great way to further the feud, but I hope they don't start making segments like this a common occurrence as I like the main roster being completely separate from NXT. What they could have done is instead of having security come out let Triple H call some of the NXT guys out to get Rollins as they don't want him disrupting a show they work so hard to be apart of.
Match #4
Asuka (c) def Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, & Billie Kay (NXT Women's Championship - 4 Way)
In the weeks leading up to this match I wanted this to be a one on one match between Asuka and Nikki Cross as I see both Royce & Kay (more so Billie than Peyton) as a step below them and thought they would be a hindrance to this match, but after this match I see them in a new light as this match made them look dominant and worthy contenders in the future for the title.
Asuka (c) def Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, & Billie Kay (NXT Women's Championship - 4 Way)
In the weeks leading up to this match I wanted this to be a one on one match between Asuka and Nikki Cross as I see both Royce & Kay (more so Billie than Peyton) as a step below them and thought they would be a hindrance to this match, but after this match I see them in a new light as this match made them look dominant and worthy contenders in the future for the title.
Billie & Peyton start the match looking scared and immediately get out of the ring. Asuka & Nikki square off waiting on the right time to strike, but Peyton & Billie come back in and attack them. Billie puts Nikki in a tree of woe position while Peyton is fighting Asuka. The Australians whip Asuka toward the corner, but she reverses it and instead Peyton goes into the corner. Asuka hits a cutter and clothesline combo on both of the Australians. Nikki comes back in and once again her and Aska square off and this time they grab each other by the hair until the Australians once again come from behind and attack them. Peyton holds Nikki and Billie hits her in the chest with a discus forearm. Asuka looks like she is going for either a german or an O'Connor roll on Peyton, but Billie comes from behind and waist locks Asuka, Asuka then spins around and gets behind Billie and hits a german suplex on both of the Australians. For a third time Asuka & Nikki are in the ring together and this time they trade punches and just as Asuka is getting the better of the exchange Nikki headbutts her and hits a Thesz press. Asuka hits a bridging german suplex on Nikki for a 2 count. The Australians are on the apron trying to get back into the ring, but Asuka knocks them both off with a running hip attack. Asuka misses a kick to the head of Nikki and gets hit with a sitout straight jacket neckbreaker followed by an inverted DDT for a 2 count. Nikki Cross (or as I like to call her my little Tazmanian Devil since she is small, but vicious) is now in control. Nikki charges Asuka, but Asuka pulls the middle rope down sending Nikki to the outside. Asuka tries to kick Nikki from the apron, but Nikki ducks and trips Asuka sending her face first into the apron, she then hits Asuka with an elevated rolling neckbreaker off the apron to the floor. Nikki gets on the apron and sees the Australians getting to their feet and she comes off the top with a cross body on both of them. The Australians get back to their feet and double team Nikki sending her into the barricade. They fight up the aisle where the announce table when Nikki makes a comeback fighting them off. Nikki is looking to jump off the announce table onto Peyton when all of sudden from behind Billie grabs her foot causing her to fall face first on the announce table. The Australians then hit a suplex on Nikki off the announce table through another table sitting right beside it. The Australians then run back to the ring to take advantage of a downed Asuka. They rolls Asuka back into the ring and Billie holds Asuka some sort of double underhook wheelbarrow hold and Peyton hits her with a knee to the head which only gets a 2 count. Billie gets down on one knee and Peyton tries to ram Asuka's head into Billie's knee, but Asuka kick Billie in the head at the last second. Peyton hits a spin kick on Asuka and then hits her with a widow's peak for another very close 2 count and the way Asuka bridges out of the pin is really great. Peyton keeps pushing Asuka over and over and this pisses Asuka off as she kicks Peyton and then Billie and finally one more death blow to Peyton to get the win and retain her NXT Women's Championship. This won't go down as one of the best NXT Takeover women's matches nor is it even as good as the 4 way back at NXT Takeover: Rival, but for what it was it was good and was a really fun match. After this match I want to see a Asuka vs Nikki Cross match even more as the little glimpses we got of it in this match were really good. I know they were probably planning for Asuka vs Ember Moon at NXT Takeover: Orlando, but I hope they change their mind or at least make it a triple threat as Nikki is way better than Ember especially when it comes to having her character down as I love the crazy feral Tazmanian Devil vibe she gives off. Rating: ***1/4
Match #5
Bobby Roode def Shinsuke Nakamura (c) (NXT Championship)
Its pretty funny how my thoughts on this match and the feud leading up to it is the complete opposite of Shinsuke's feud with Joe and those matches. For the Joe vs Nakamura feud I was really into it, but when the actual matches happened I was left very disappointed on the flip side is this Roode vs Nakamura feud which I haven't been that into as the feud felt lukewarm, but the match these two had is probably my favorite Nakamura match since his debut match against Zayn last year. I find that really interesting since I consider Joe a better worker than Roode, but against Nakamura Roode was the better man.
Bobby Roode def Shinsuke Nakamura (c) (NXT Championship)
Its pretty funny how my thoughts on this match and the feud leading up to it is the complete opposite of Shinsuke's feud with Joe and those matches. For the Joe vs Nakamura feud I was really into it, but when the actual matches happened I was left very disappointed on the flip side is this Roode vs Nakamura feud which I haven't been that into as the feud felt lukewarm, but the match these two had is probably my favorite Nakamura match since his debut match against Zayn last year. I find that really interesting since I consider Joe a better worker than Roode, but against Nakamura Roode was the better man.
In the battle of special entrances Roode won as he was escorted to the ring by eight lovely ladies and it gave off a Ric Flair vibe. Nakamura came to the ring on some kind of moving cart which considering what his past two entrances have been for Takeover this was pretty disappointing.
Before they even touch the crowd is electric with chants for both men. As they are feeling each other out Nakamura hits an inside leg kick to an unsuspecting Roode. Nakamura wrenches the arm, but Roode gets out of it and they then do some mat work with quick reversals. Roode has a front facelock in and Nakamura gets to his feet and back Roode up to the ropes. They feel each other out again and Nakamura looks to lock up, but Roode goes back to the rope and tells the referee to back Nakamura up. Finally we get a lock up and Nakamura goes behind Roode and has him in a waist lock, but Roode back him into the ropes and tell the referee to make him break it and has he does Roode hits him with a back elbow. Roode wrenches the arm, but Nakamura gets out of it and takes Roode down with a headlock, but Roode puts Nakamura in a head scissors. Nakamura gets out of it and tries to stomp Roode, but he moves and then he tries a spinkick, but Roode ducks and we are back at a stand still. Roode tries to taunt Nakamura, but gets a boot and a knee to the gut and then is taken down and hit with a knee drop. Nakamura is looking for Good Vibrations, but Roode grabs his leg and stands up and spins Nakamura around, but Nakamura kicks him in the head with a spinkick. Roode rolls to the floor, but Nakamura goes out and rolls him back in. Nakamura hits a couple of knees in the corner and then sends Roode into the opposite corner and charges at him, but Roode counters and sits Nakamura on the top rope and grabs the leg of Nakamura and pushes him off the top and Nakamura takes a nasty looking bump to the floor. Roode goes out and sends Nakamura into both set of steel steps. Roode rolls Nakamura back in and gets a 2 count. Its at this time that the crowd starts a Beer Money chant which I'm sure James Storm is hearing and kicking himself for going back to TNA. Roode is in full control of the match hitting some punches and chops in the corner and then sending him into the opposite corner and hitting a running clothesline. Roode comes off the middle rope with an axehandle and this gets a 2 count. Roode knees Nakamura in the back and then applies a neck crank. Nakamura tries to work his way back to his feet, but Roode sends him back down. Roode then hits knee drops both to the chest and to the back of Nakamura for a 2 count. Roode stomps a mudhole in Nakamura and then chokes him with his boot and then we see Roode performing his own Good Vibrations. Nakamura is laying on the apron and Roode tries to pull him up to his feet, but Nakamura hits a head kick out of nowhere taking Roode down. Nakamura hits a running knee and then a jumping knee drop off the apron to Roode who is hanging off the apron. Nakamura rolls Roode into the ring and delivers a forearm and some kicks. Nakamura hits a series of knees in the corner and then performs his own Good Vibrations. Nakamura goes for the running knee on Roode laying across the top rope, but Roode moves and drops Nakamura's neck on the top rope. Roode goes for another middle rope axehandle, but Nakamura moves and tries for the exploder, but Roode elbows out of it. Roode runs at Nakamura, but gets a knee to the gut and then Nakamura hits the corner knee strike he was looking for as well as the exploder. Nakamura then signals for the Kinshasa, but Roode won't get up and finally Nakamura gets frustrated and goes over to stomp on him, but Roode was playing opossum and moves and rolls up Nakamura for a 2 count. Nakamura misses a spinkick and Roode hits him with a back stabber for a 2 count. Roode picks up Nakamura and signals for a Glorious DDT, but Nakamura gets out of it and runs to the ropes only to be caught by a spinebuster for a nearfall. Roode sets Nakamura up top and is looking for a superplex, but Nakamura blocks it and sends Roode down with a front suplex to the mat. Nakamura hits a diving kick off the middle rope and then charges at Roode in the corner, but Roode gets the boots up. Roode covers Nakamura with his feet on the ropes and the referee sees it. Roode chops Nakamura in the corner and just as it looks like he is out of it Nakamura taunts Roode. Nakamura then knees and kicks Roode down and gets on top of him hammering down vicious knees and stomps to the head. Roode runs at Nakamura, but is caught in an attempted arm bar, but Roode locks the hands so he can't put it on. Nakamura slips his leg through the locked arms of Roode and transitions the move into a triangle. Roode powers up Nakamura into what looks to be a power bomb, but Nakamura rolls him into a sunset flip and then hits a sliding knee strike for a 2 count. Nakamura goes up to the middle rope looking for perhaps the diving Kinshasa, but Roode rolls out to the apron and Nakamura hits the Kinshasa, but lands very badly on his knee. Nakamura rolls Roode into the ring, but is selling the knee. Nakamura hits the Kinshasa, but his knee is hurt so bad that he can't follow up with a cover. The referee and the trainer check on Nakamura and he says he can continue, Bobby Roode comes up and hits the Glorious DDT for a very close 2 count. Roode locks in a half crab and beats on the knee of Nakamura while the hold is locked in. To show the seriousness of the situation head NXT head coach Matt Bloom who is filling in for William Regal comes out. Nakamura fights out of the crab and tries to lock in a triangle, but the leg is hurt too bad to put any pressure on. Roode hits another Glorious DDT for the win to become the new NXT Champion. I really liked this match and is one of my favorite NXT Takeover main events there has been. Great job by both men. Rating ****1/4
This show was better than I expected it to be and most of the matches exceeded my expectations. This won't be considered one of the best Takeovers, but it will be pretty high on the list.
This show was better than I expected it to be and most of the matches exceeded my expectations. This won't be considered one of the best Takeovers, but it will be pretty high on the list.
WWE Royal Rumble
San Antonio, TX
Alamo Dome
1/29/17
San Antonio, TX
Alamo Dome
1/29/17
Going into this show I was super excited as this had the potential to be one of the greatest Royal Rumble shows of all time, but in reality it was really disappointing especially the Rumble match itself, but I guess I'll start going into each match in more detail.
Kickoff Match #1
Becky Lynch, Naomi, & Nikki Bella def Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, & Natalya
I should have known this was going to be a disappointing show when one of the matches I was looking forward to with most of my favorite women in it was moved to the pre-show, I just wish the Smackdown women's division was showcased on the main show as this makes it feel so much less than the Raw division in WWE's eyes.
Nikki & Natalya start the match off and Natalya taunts Nikki until Nikki slaps her, this causes Natalya to retreat and tag in Alexa. Nikki & Alexa exchange waist locks and then Alexa sends Nikki into the ropes, but Nikki stops and drives Alexa's face into her knee for a 2 count. Naomi tags in and hits a double dropkick with Nikki on Alexa. Alexa tags in Natalya and we then get a 6 woman suplex chain with the babyfaces suplexing the heels. Nikki & Becky hit baseball slide dropkicks on the girls and then Naomi dives on top of the heel team. We come back from commercial and see Becky & Natalya in the ring as Becky hits her with a couple of clotheslines and a running kick followed by a Flying Firearm and a springboard kick in the corner on Natalya. Natalya rolls to the outside and comes off the apron with a flying forearm. Mickie comes out of nowhere and sends Becky into the barricade. Natalya hits a suplex on the outside to Becky. Natalya gets Becky back into the ring and puts her in a rest hold, but Becky arm drags Natalya to get out of it. Becky tries to make a tag, but Natalya drives her into the heel corner. Mickie comes in and stomps away at Becky and chokes her with her boot. Alexa tags in and chokes Becky on the ropes and as Becky is leaned against the ropes Mickie delivers a kick to her head. Alexa gets a 2 count. Natalya comes back in and taunts Becky, but gets rolled up for a 2 count. Natalya hits Becky with a Michinoku driver. Natalya is looking for a german suplex, but Becky blocks it and goes for an O'Connor roll, but Alexa makes a blind tag. Becky is almost going to tag in Nikki, but Natalya pulls Nikki down off the apron. In the ring Becky rolls Alexa up for a 2 count and then hits her with an enziguiri. Becky finally makes the hot tag to Naomi and she comes in with a springboard cross body and dropkicks the other members of the heel team off the apron. Naomi hits a flipping clothesline and then a seated jawbreaker. Naomi hits her multiple rapid kicks for a 2 count, but Mickie breaks it up. Becky comes in and hits a Bexploder on Mickie and then gets sent into the corner shoulder first by Natalya and then Natalya gets hit with a spear from Nikki. Naomi hits a high kick to the head of Alexa and then hits a split legged moonsault to get the win for her team.
This was an ok match, I wish Mickie had gotten a bit more offense in to really cement her return as a big deal. I didn't like my girl Alexa eating the pin, but it looks like they are going with Alexa vs Naomi as the next women's title feud on Smackdown so I guess that's ok. Rating: **1/4
Royal Rumble Weekend Match Ranking
13. Nia Jax def Sasha Banks
12. Becky Lynch, Naomi, & Nikki Bella def Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, & Natalya
11. Eric Young def Tye Dillinger
10. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def Cesaro & Sheamus (Raw Tag Team Championship)
9. Neville def Rich Swann (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
8. Royal Rumble Match
7. Charlotte def Bayley (Raw Women's Championship)
6. Asuka def Nikki Cross, Billie Kay, & Peyton Royce (NXT Women's Championship)
5. Roderick Strong def Andrade Cien Almas
4. Kevin Owens def Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Championship)
3. The Authors of Pain def DIY (NXT Tag Team Championship)
2. Bobby Roode def Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT Championship)
1. John Cena def AJ Styles (WWE World Championship)
Becky Lynch, Naomi, & Nikki Bella def Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, & Natalya
I should have known this was going to be a disappointing show when one of the matches I was looking forward to with most of my favorite women in it was moved to the pre-show, I just wish the Smackdown women's division was showcased on the main show as this makes it feel so much less than the Raw division in WWE's eyes.
Nikki & Natalya start the match off and Natalya taunts Nikki until Nikki slaps her, this causes Natalya to retreat and tag in Alexa. Nikki & Alexa exchange waist locks and then Alexa sends Nikki into the ropes, but Nikki stops and drives Alexa's face into her knee for a 2 count. Naomi tags in and hits a double dropkick with Nikki on Alexa. Alexa tags in Natalya and we then get a 6 woman suplex chain with the babyfaces suplexing the heels. Nikki & Becky hit baseball slide dropkicks on the girls and then Naomi dives on top of the heel team. We come back from commercial and see Becky & Natalya in the ring as Becky hits her with a couple of clotheslines and a running kick followed by a Flying Firearm and a springboard kick in the corner on Natalya. Natalya rolls to the outside and comes off the apron with a flying forearm. Mickie comes out of nowhere and sends Becky into the barricade. Natalya hits a suplex on the outside to Becky. Natalya gets Becky back into the ring and puts her in a rest hold, but Becky arm drags Natalya to get out of it. Becky tries to make a tag, but Natalya drives her into the heel corner. Mickie comes in and stomps away at Becky and chokes her with her boot. Alexa tags in and chokes Becky on the ropes and as Becky is leaned against the ropes Mickie delivers a kick to her head. Alexa gets a 2 count. Natalya comes back in and taunts Becky, but gets rolled up for a 2 count. Natalya hits Becky with a Michinoku driver. Natalya is looking for a german suplex, but Becky blocks it and goes for an O'Connor roll, but Alexa makes a blind tag. Becky is almost going to tag in Nikki, but Natalya pulls Nikki down off the apron. In the ring Becky rolls Alexa up for a 2 count and then hits her with an enziguiri. Becky finally makes the hot tag to Naomi and she comes in with a springboard cross body and dropkicks the other members of the heel team off the apron. Naomi hits a flipping clothesline and then a seated jawbreaker. Naomi hits her multiple rapid kicks for a 2 count, but Mickie breaks it up. Becky comes in and hits a Bexploder on Mickie and then gets sent into the corner shoulder first by Natalya and then Natalya gets hit with a spear from Nikki. Naomi hits a high kick to the head of Alexa and then hits a split legged moonsault to get the win for her team.
This was an ok match, I wish Mickie had gotten a bit more offense in to really cement her return as a big deal. I didn't like my girl Alexa eating the pin, but it looks like they are going with Alexa vs Naomi as the next women's title feud on Smackdown so I guess that's ok. Rating: **1/4
Kickoff Match #2
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def Cesaro & Sheamus (c) (Raw Tag Team Championship)
I don't think anyone was really looking forward to this match going in as nobody seen Gallows/Anderson as actual threats to the titles considering they had many shots at the titles and were never successful, and giving this match two referees didn't make people care any more about this match.The fact that they win the titles here was a big shocker and I have to ask why now? They are nowhere near as hot now as they were back around the time they debuted and feuded with New Day. Why do you want to take the titles off Sheamus & Cesaro when they were just started heating up as a team?
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def Cesaro & Sheamus (c) (Raw Tag Team Championship)
I don't think anyone was really looking forward to this match going in as nobody seen Gallows/Anderson as actual threats to the titles considering they had many shots at the titles and were never successful, and giving this match two referees didn't make people care any more about this match.The fact that they win the titles here was a big shocker and I have to ask why now? They are nowhere near as hot now as they were back around the time they debuted and feuded with New Day. Why do you want to take the titles off Sheamus & Cesaro when they were just started heating up as a team?
Cesaro starts this match quickly as he hits a running dropkick on Anderson for a 2 count and then hits him with a gutwrench suplex. Cesaro tags in Sheamus who hits his slingshot battering ram. Cesaro comes back in and Sheamus hits the rolling fireman's carry and Cesaro hits the double stomp for 2. Cesaro goes for the running uppercut in the corner, but Anderson moves and hits a karate kick to the head. Gallows comes in and lands some shots before sending Cesaro off the ropes, but Cesaro ducks a clothesline and hits the springboard uppercut. Sheamus comes in and they hit a double suplex and then Sheaus hits a running knee drop. Cesaro & Sheamus are making real quick tags and are working like an old school tag team. Gallows reverses a whip to the ropes and hits a big back body drop on Cesaro. Cesaro fights his way out of the heel corner and hits a running uppercut in the corner, but is distracted by Anderson and this allows Gallows to hit a big kick to the back of Cesaro's head and then he boots Sheamus off the apron. After commercial we see Gallows has a headlock on Cesaro and then headbutts him. Cesaro powers Gallows up and hits him with a vertical suplex. Cesaro makes a hot tag to Sheamus and he hits axehandles on both Gallows & Anderson and then hits some kind of spinning kick in the corner that sends him to the apron. Sheamus then hits Gallows with Ten Beats of the Bodhran followed by a top rope clothesline for a 2 count. Cesaro tags back in and assists Sheamus with the White Noise. Cesaro goes for the Big Swing, but gets kicked off and Gallows tags in Anderson. Cesaro sidesteps Anderson and causes him to kick Sheamus off the apron. Anderson pins Cesaro with his feet on the rope, but the 2nd referee sees it and tells the in ring referee to stop the count. Cesaro hits the pop up uppercut for a 2 count. Cesaro goes for the Neutralizer, but gets back dropped out of it and Cesaro lands on his feet and then hits the Swiss-1-9 on Anderson followed by a top rope cross body for 2. Cesaro gets out of a backslide and then gets whipped into the ropes and kicks Gallows. Anderson hits a spinebuster for 2. Anderson/Gallows set up for the Magic Killer, but Sheamus pushes Cesaro off. Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick on Anderson, but he ducks and the referee gets hit instead. Cesaro hits the Big Swing on Anderson and then puts him in the Sharpshooter, but Gallows breaks it up with a kick to the head. Sheamus double legs both men and punches them. They hit the Magic Killer on Sheamus and then Cesaro clotheslines Gallows out of the ring, but Anderson comes up from behind and rolls up Cesaro and grabs the tights for the 3.
This was a pretty good match and one of the better matches for Anderson & Gallows. I have to wonder where this leaves Sheamus & Cesaro as I hope they just don't go back to fighting each other as that would be pointless now. It will be interesting to see if they stay a team. Rating: ***
Kickoff Match #3
Nia Jax def Sasha Banks
The winner of this match was pretty predictable, but the length of the match was quite shocking as this was pretty much an extended squash. It's kind of sad to see Sasha losing this quick on the kickoff show as she has fallen down the ranks very quickly as it was only three months ago she was in the main event of Hell in a Cell and now she can't even get on the main card. Hopefully we can get that Sasha vs Bayley main roster feud we all want later this year.
Nia Jax def Sasha Banks
The winner of this match was pretty predictable, but the length of the match was quite shocking as this was pretty much an extended squash. It's kind of sad to see Sasha losing this quick on the kickoff show as she has fallen down the ranks very quickly as it was only three months ago she was in the main event of Hell in a Cell and now she can't even get on the main card. Hopefully we can get that Sasha vs Bayley main roster feud we all want later this year.
Sasha runs right at Nia as soon as the bell rings, Nia picks her up and sets her on the middle rope. Nia runs at Sasha, but Sasha launches off the ropes and gets her in a headlock. Nia throws Sasha off into the corner and goes for a running splash, but Sasha moves. Sasha hits the double knees in the corner once and then tries again, but gets caught and pushed off. Sasha ducks a clothesline and lands a couple of weak looking slaps to Nia and then tries to run up the ropes and try a cross body, but Nia catches her and rams her into the corner. Nia hits Sasha with a running corner splash and then biels her across the ring before hitting her with a vicious clothesline. After commercial Nia hits a headbutt and then sends Sasha into the ropes and Sasha tilt a whirls out of it and tries to lock in a Bank Statement, but Nia is too strong. Nia goes to work on the inured leg of Sasha putting her in a stretch muffler and rag dolls her around. Sasha gets to the ropes and flips over Nia trying to sunset flip her, but Nia just grabs her by the hair and pulls her up and pushes her into the corner. Sasha hits a kick and then moves out of Nia's way and she goes shoulder first into the ring post. Sasha lands some kicks in on Nia and then goes up top and hits the double knees, but Nia powers her off of her. Sasha hits a few forearms and runs to the ropes, but is caught by Nia in the pop up Samoan Drop for the win.
As I said before this was nothing, but a squash match with a few hope spots from Sasha. Rating: *1/4
Match #1
Charlotte (c) def Bayley (Raw Women's Championship)
I feel like I should be into this feud more than I am, but the build up for this feud hasn't been the best and Bayley feels like she's lost something since coming up to the main roster.
Charlotte (c) def Bayley (Raw Women's Championship)
I feel like I should be into this feud more than I am, but the build up for this feud hasn't been the best and Bayley feels like she's lost something since coming up to the main roster.
Charlotte gets the best of Bayley early as she takes her down with a waist lock takedown and then tosses Bayley out to the floor. Bayley gets back in and tosses Charlotte to the floor and then hits her with a hurricanrana through the ropes to the floor and then hits a cross body off the middle rope to the floor and rolls Charlotte back in for 2. Charlotte rolls back out of the ring and Bayley goes out after her, but Charlotte sends Bayley face first into the apron and kicks her into the steps. Charlotte slams Bayley's head into the mat and hits the snap exploder for a 2 count. Charlotte gets Bayley in a rear chin lock and rag dolls her around. Charlotte tries for another snap exploder, but Bayley counters it into a roll up for 2. Bayley tries for a backslide, but Charlotte reverses it and hits a neckbreaker followed by a big boot for 2. Charlotte puts Bayley in a head scissors on the mat, Bayley bridges to try and pin Charlotte and then Charlotte hits the repeated rolling head scissors slams. Charlotte is taunting Bayley and toying around with her as Bayley is starting to get angry and slaps Charlotte. Charlotte tries to hit her with a neckbreaker, but Bayley clotheslines her and both women are down. They exchange chops and Charlotte gets the best of it and sends her into the corner, but Bayley counters with a springboard arm drag and then a springboard cross body. Bayley hits a couple of running axehandles. Bayley hits an inverted sling blade slamming Charlotte face first into the mat. Bayley goes up top, but thinks better of it and comes back down and stomps on Charlotte some and then goes back up and hits an elbow drop for 2. Bayley tries to whip Charlotte into the ropes, but Charlotte hangs on to the top rope and kicks Bayley in the leg and then locks in a figure 4. Bayley turns it over, but Charlotte turns it back and then bridges up to make the figure 4 a figure 8 as she uses the ropes for leverage, but the referee sees this and makes her break it. We can now see that Charotte is bleeding from the mouth which was caused by the top rope elbow from Bayley. Charlotte goes up top and goes for the moonsault, but Bayley gets her knees up and this gets a 2 count. Bayley fires away with forearms in the corner and then sets Charlotte up top, but Charlotte tosses her over the top to the floor. Bayley gets back on the apron, but Charlotte hits the Natural Selection on the apron and rolls Bayley back in for the 3 count.
This was better on second watch, but the finish still felt like it came out of nowhere and even though I wasn't that into this feud going into it, this match made me want to see more from these two. Rating: ***1/4
Match #2
Kevin Owens (c) def Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Championship - No DQ Match)
This match was mostly built around Chris Jericho being in the shark cage and not so much about Roman going for the title, which is always a negative when something else takes importance over the title. I have to say Roman works best in matches where weapons can be used and anything goes,when he is in straight up matches he can tend to get boring at times.
Kevin Owens (c) def Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Championship - No DQ Match)
This match was mostly built around Chris Jericho being in the shark cage and not so much about Roman going for the title, which is always a negative when something else takes importance over the title. I have to say Roman works best in matches where weapons can be used and anything goes,when he is in straight up matches he can tend to get boring at times.
Before the match starts Jericho is hesitant about getting in the cage and both he and KO jump Roman, Roman makes a comeback and sends Jericho into the cage and then throws him in it as it ascends above the ring.
KO attacks Roman from behind and punches him on the ground before putting him in the corner and hitting some blows to the gut. Roman comes back with some punching of his own as they go outside and into the crowd. They fight where the row of foreign language announcers are located, they come back to ringside and KO throws the announce table hood at Roman, but he throws it back and it hits KO. KO reverses a whip and sends Roman into the steps. KO sets up a pyramid structure with the chairs, but as he is setting it up Roman gets back up so KO hits him with one of the monitors and then sends him into the barricade and hits him with the cannonball. KO hits Roman in the ribs with a chair as he finishes building his beautiful chair pyramid (those ancient Egyptians had nothing on the beautiful creation KO just built). KO wants to power bomb Roman through the chairs, but he blocks it and sends KO back into the ring. Roman is looking to suplex KO on the chairs, but KO hangs him throat first off the top rope. Roman hits a series of clotheslines and sends KO into the post shoulder first. Roman gets a table and goes to set it up, but KO comes from behind and hits him with a backstabber, and then KO pushes the table back outside the ring. KO tries for a cannonball into the corner, but Roman meets him with a big boot. KO tries a superkick, but Roman catches him in a sit out power bomb for 2. Roman signals for the Superman Punch, but KO sees him and rolls out of the ring, so Roman hits him with a Drive By kick instead. Roman sets up the table at ringside, but is met with two superkicks from KO that land him on top of the table. KO goes up and hits a frog splash through the table. KO rolls Roman in, but only gets a 2 count. KO brings two chairs in the ring and hits Roman in the back with one and wedges the other in the corner, he tries to whip Roman into the chair, but he blocks it and sends KO into the corner and hits him with a series of clotheslines and then tries to run off the ropes for a move, but KO keeps countering until he finally sends Roman into the chair wedged in the corner. We then see Jericho has brass knuckles and he tosses them down to KO who then mocks Roman and is looking to hit his own Superman Punch, but Roman tries to get the knucks out of KO's hand but he rakes the eyes and hits Roman with the Superman Punch with brass knuckles on for a 2 count. KO sets up a chair in the ring and looks to power bomb Roman through it, but Roman blocks and instead turns it into a Samoan drop through the chair for a 2 count. Roman sets up a table in the corner and then hits a Superman Punch on KO. Roman is looking for a spear through the table, but KO sees it coming and kicks him in the head and hits him with a Stone Cold Stunner for a 2 count. KO then stomps a mud hole in Roman and hits him with another cannonball. KO goes out to the apron and goes up top and grabs Roman looking for a superplex on top of all the chairs, but Roman blocks and hits KO with a Superman Punch knocking him off the top and through all the chairs. Instead of Roman rolling KO back in and trying to pin him, he instead power bombs KO through the announce table. Roman rolls KO back in and is looking for a spear through the table in the corner, but out of nowhere Braun Strowman appears and pulls Roman outside and chokeslams him on top of the German announce table. Braun rolls Roman back into the ring and powerslams him through the table in the corner. KO covers Roman and gets the 3 count.
Of the two big title matches on this card this was the one I was less interested in seeing, but they used the No DQ stipulation to their advantage and made this a fun match with action happening from bell to bell. I still think they could've just barred Jericho from ringside instead of making a shark cage match since he didn't do that much and didn't even really show him that much. If I remember correctly back in the Crockett era when they would do this they would show the person in the cage more and also didn't they have them mic'd up so you could hear what they were saying during the match? I couldn't hear much of anything Jericho said so the shark cage was pretty useless. Rating: ****
Match #3
Neville def Rich Swann (c) (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
This was the only match on the main card that I wasn't looking forward to as this cruiserweight division just isn't doing it for me. I can't figure out exactly why, but it just isn't. I compare this cruiserweight division to the once WCW used to have or even the one WWE had from 2002-2007 and it just doesn't hold up. I think a lot of it does have to do with the fact that the stuff they do isn't as ground breaking or exciting anymore since I can see some of the heavyweights do the same thing. I feel WWE is calling them cruiserweights because they have the weight of cruiserweights and not because they have the style of cruiserweights (if that makes any sense). It also don't help that the show dedicated to them is on after I have already set through two hours of Smackdown and I'm pretty exhausted from wrestling since Smackdown is my favorite and I get excited watching the show. I will say the only things I do like about the cruiserweight division so far is Neville's heel turn and anything Jack Gallagher does, anything other than that only gets a shoulder shrug and a meh out of me.
Neville def Rich Swann (c) (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
This was the only match on the main card that I wasn't looking forward to as this cruiserweight division just isn't doing it for me. I can't figure out exactly why, but it just isn't. I compare this cruiserweight division to the once WCW used to have or even the one WWE had from 2002-2007 and it just doesn't hold up. I think a lot of it does have to do with the fact that the stuff they do isn't as ground breaking or exciting anymore since I can see some of the heavyweights do the same thing. I feel WWE is calling them cruiserweights because they have the weight of cruiserweights and not because they have the style of cruiserweights (if that makes any sense). It also don't help that the show dedicated to them is on after I have already set through two hours of Smackdown and I'm pretty exhausted from wrestling since Smackdown is my favorite and I get excited watching the show. I will say the only things I do like about the cruiserweight division so far is Neville's heel turn and anything Jack Gallagher does, anything other than that only gets a shoulder shrug and a meh out of me.
Before I get into this match I have to mention that Rich Swann's trunks look like some underwear a girl would wear lol nothing wrong with that I just had to mention it as that's what popped in my mind when I seen them.
They lock up and Neville pushes Swann into the corner, but Swann switches it around at the last second, they lock up again and this time Neville pushes Swann into the corner and looks like he is going to break clean, but goes for a chop, but Swann ducks and grabs a side headlock. Neville pushes Swann off and we get some drop downs, leap frogs, and front flips. Swann tries a dropkick, but Neville side steps it only for Swann to hit another one which causes Neville to roll outside. Swann hits a plancha on Neville. Swann gets Neville back into the ring and Neville gets Swann in the corner and puts the boots to him. Neville hits Swann with a missile dropkick off the top rope for 2. Neville stomps and stands on the neck of Swann. Neville puts Swann in a fireman's carry, but Swann rolls him up in a crucifix for a 2 count. Neville tries to lock in his submission, but Swann scurries to the ropes. Neville hits a snap suplex on Swann followed by a running forearm in the corner. We then get a rest hold spot by Neville which is something that should never happen in a cruiserweight match even if your a heel, a cruiserweight match is suppose to be nonstop action from bell to bell. Swann finally fights out of the rest hold and chops Neville a few times and then Neville goes out to the floor and Swann follows. Neville runs Swann into the barricade twice and then rolls him back into the ring. Neville dives at Swann, but is met with a beautiful superkick in mid air. Both men try to get to their feet and Neville runs at Swann in the corner, but Swann moves and Neville jumps up to the top. Swann hits Neville with an enziguri and then a standing hurricanrana that takes Neville off the top rope. Neville rolls back to the outside, but Swann hits him with a Phoenix splash to the outside. Swann rolls Neville back into the ring and gets on top of him and hits him with lefts and right and follows that up with a big kick to the head for a 2 count. Neville tries to make a come back and sends Swann into the ropes, but he comes back with a clothesline. Swann then hits a standing frog splash on Neville for a 2 count. Swann goes up top, but gets crotched by Neville. Neville is looking for a superplex, but Swann pushes him off and Neville back flips, Swann dives toward Neville, but he ducks and fortunately for Swann he is able to roll through it. Swann hits a back kick to the gut of Neville and goes to the ropes only to be met with a super kick from Neville. Neville looks for a dead lift german supelx, but Swann reverses it into a roll up for 2. Swann hits a super kick on Neville and goes for the pin, but Neville gets his foot on the rope. Swann goes up top again, but Neville channels his inner Kurt Angle and jumps up to the top and hits a superplex for a 2 count. Neville locks in his Rings of Saturn and Swann has no choice but to tap out.
A decent match, but still nothing that totally blows me away or even comes close to stealing the show which is something the cruiserweights used to be known for doing on every show. I didn't like the rest hold spots as they should not be allowed in cruiserweight matches so that knocks off points for me. Rating: **3/4
Match #4
John Cena def AJ Styles (c) (WWE World Championship)
I have really enjoyed this feud up until the Royal Rumble go home episode of Smackdown where Cena cut a promo on Styles that unless you only know WWE was a heel promo. He completely disrespected Styles and didn't even give Styles an opportunity to verbally fight back. If I'm not mistaken isn't the goal of a wrestling promo not to cut your opponent down, but to build them up so that when you beat them you can say you beat the best? Cena verbally buried Styles and the problem with that is that I know that isn't just Cena saying that stuff as that is absolutely something that would come from Vince as Vince has this ego where unless you've worked for WWE you haven't done shit for your entire career. It just made me mad that they discredit everything Styles has done in his career after he worked his ass off for years and years to get where he is. I know people have been talking about it and speculating about it for years and I don't like to bring it up as it's a tired trope of the IWC, but Cena has to be turning heel soon, he is way more cocky and arrogant than he's ever been before even in this match there are moments that he is smiling when he shouldn't and just little things a heel would do. Anyway I'll step off my soap box now and get into the match.
John Cena def AJ Styles (c) (WWE World Championship)
I have really enjoyed this feud up until the Royal Rumble go home episode of Smackdown where Cena cut a promo on Styles that unless you only know WWE was a heel promo. He completely disrespected Styles and didn't even give Styles an opportunity to verbally fight back. If I'm not mistaken isn't the goal of a wrestling promo not to cut your opponent down, but to build them up so that when you beat them you can say you beat the best? Cena verbally buried Styles and the problem with that is that I know that isn't just Cena saying that stuff as that is absolutely something that would come from Vince as Vince has this ego where unless you've worked for WWE you haven't done shit for your entire career. It just made me mad that they discredit everything Styles has done in his career after he worked his ass off for years and years to get where he is. I know people have been talking about it and speculating about it for years and I don't like to bring it up as it's a tired trope of the IWC, but Cena has to be turning heel soon, he is way more cocky and arrogant than he's ever been before even in this match there are moments that he is smiling when he shouldn't and just little things a heel would do. Anyway I'll step off my soap box now and get into the match.
They circle the ring feeling each other out when AJ makes the first strike with a kick to the back of the leg and Cena fires back with a clothesline taking AJ down. Cena sends AJ hard into the corner and lands some right hands before sending AJ into the opposite corner and charging him, but AJ is able to hit him with a back elbow. AJ hits a couple of knee drops which look like they miss as Cena raises up a second too early to sell the move. AJ then taunts Cena and goes for a third knee drop, but Cena moves and launches AJ into the air with a back body drop. Cena goes for an AA early, but AJ lands on his feet and hits Cena with an enziguiri. Cena is dazed and AJ goes for a clothesline, but Cena ducks and hits some shoulder blocks and then tries for the spin out power bomb, but AJ counters it into a hurricanrana. AJ hits a flying clothesline in the corner on Cena and follows it up with a forearm to a seated Cena for a 2 count. AJ signals for a Styles Clash, but Cena just lifts him up and flapjacks him. Cena hits the spin out power bomb and is looking for the 5 Knuckle Shuffle, but AJ tries to counter with a kip up rana, but Cena pushes him off and tries to clothesline AJ, but AJ gets hit boot up and hits Cena's arm. AJ hits a german suplex and facebuster combo. AJ hits Cena with the Phenomenal Blitz and Cena comes out of the corner with a lariat taking down the champ. Cena finally hits the 5 Knuckle Shuffle and looks for the AA, but AJ elbows out of it and tries to escape to the apron, but Cena puts him on the top rope and tries for a superplex, but AJ slips between his legs and is able to hit a torture rack bomb for a 2 count. AJ looks for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena ducks and AJ rolls through and runs into an AA, but Cena only gets a 2 count. Cena waits for AJ to stand up and hits a lariat and then wants to go for another, but AJ ducks and hits the Pele kick, but Cena doesn't go down and AJ charges at him in the corner, but Cena sends AJ out to the apron. AJ hits the Phenomenal Forearm for a 2 count. AJ goes for a kick to the head, but Cena dodges it and hits an electric chair face buster. They exchange punches in the ring and AJ kicks the leg and then tries for the Styles Clash, but Cena counters into an attempted AA, but AJ counters that with a Calf Crusher. Cena rolls out of it and puts AJ in the STF, AJ tries to get to the ropes, but Cena pulls him back into the center of the ring so AJ turns the hold into a pin, but gets 2 and then AJ locks in his own STF. Cena powers out of the STF and again goes for the AA, but AJ somehow is able to get on the shoulders of Cena and tries a rana, but Cena grabs his leg and puts him in the figure 4, but AJ counters the figure 4 into a cross arm breaker. Cena shows his power and dead lifts Cena and slams him down to the mat. Cena goes up top and is looking for his diving leg drop, but AJ counters it into a power bomb just like Batista did at SummerSlam 2008. AJ hits the Styles Clash, but only gets 2. AJ tries to hit the springboard 450 splash, but Cena gets the knees up and Cena hits the Code Red for a 2 count. Styles hits the Ushigoroshi, but only gets 2. Cena hits a cutter, but Styles kicks out at 2. Cena sets AJ up on the top rope and hits a Super Attitude Adjustment, but AJ kicks out at 2 & 99/100. Cena tries for another AA, but AJ counters and hits a Styles Clash, AJ is looking for another Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena catches him and hits and AA and then rolls AJ into another AA and finally gets the 3 count to tie Ric Flair as a 16 time World Champion. I did like how after the match Cena hugged referee Charles Robinson as he is a close friend to Ric so it probably meant a lot for him to ref the match that gets Cena his 16th World Championship. Cena also went into the crowd and celebrated with a Make A Wish kid, but I have to wonder would he have done that if nobody was watching,
Wow what a great match and another early candidate for Match of the Year (or at least WWE match of the year) I still don't think this was better than Omega vs Okada at Wrestle Kingdom, but it was more emotional due to me wanting to see AJ win and hanging on the edge of my seat the whole time. I have to wonder what happens to AJ now for WrestleMania as him not being in a high profile match would be a shame after the year he has had. There were a few moments where they stalled and took up time and I didn't like that as you should always be doing something and not just standing there waiting for the person to get up so you can hit the next move so that takes off points for me. Rating: ****1/2
Match #5
Royal Rumble Match - Winner: Randy Orton
Royal Rumble Match - Winner: Randy Orton
So for this match I'm not going to do like I did the others and do play by play as its hard to do for rumble. I'm going to go 5 entrants at a time and talk about what I liked or didn't like and how this Rumble match was very disappointing and could have been much better.
The first thing I have to mention is that Seth Rollins should have been in this match just to give it more star power, they could have had Triple H come out and eliminate Rollins or something, he just needed to be in this match to make it feel even bigger. We didn't need Enzo in the match so there could have been room for both Sami & Seth.
Why do the announcers need to tell us the rules of the Rumble? It's the 30th Anniversary we know the rules very well by now.
What was the point of Jerry Lawler being on commentary here, he added nothing to the match and even got the years of past Rumble moments wrong and the worst part is he was talking about his own moments. Jerry, Shawn pulled you from out under the ring in the 1996 Rumble not the 1995 one.
I did like how WWE took a page out of NJPW book in that they had the guys walk down the ramp as they enter (or if it was a big guy they would ride on golf carts which I find hilarious ) and when they got eliminated instead of going back up the ramp they would go through the back side where the time keeper is to get back to the locker room.
Entrants #1-5 - Big Cass, Chris Jericho, Kalisto, Mojo Rawley, & Jack Gallagher
- The first two entrants are Big Cass & Chris Jericho. These are not an ideal first two for me, first off Big Cass was only #1 so he & Enzo could do their whole pre match shtick, that could have waited for one night as you never seen Road Dogg as #1 entrant just so he could do his pre match shtick, that's because he's not a guy you put in at #1 and neither is Big Cass. Chris Jericho as number two would have been ok if it hadn't been done at least twice before. This should have been two younger guys you want to get over by having them last a while in the match which is why this would have been perfect for Sami Zayn & Dolph Ziggler. Also if your gonna have Jericho lay outside the ring most of the match why even have him as number one, why does he need to be the one that stays in the longest.
- #3 is Kalisto which is good I guess, but still feel this should have been the James Ellsworth spot to get him and out really quick without interrupting the flow of the match. One thing that makes me mad about WWE is they announce the participants for the match and leave several spaces open (this year it was 8 spots) and they get people excited for these surprise entrants when they just turn out to be normal WWE roster members if WWE aren't going to have surprises then just go ahead and release the names of all 30 entrants.
- While I'm glad that out of all the cruiserweights they chose Gallagher to be the representative in the rumble, I feel none of the cruiserweights really needed to be in the rumble as it was a foregone conclusion they would be eliminated pretty quick and they don't need anything else making them look like a joke. Also I don't like that they are pushing the gimmick of Gallagher having the umbrella and him needing to rely on a prop all the time and not focusing on how good he is in the ring.
Entrants #6-10 - Mark Henry, Braun Strowman, Sami Zayn, The Big Show, & Tye Dillinger
- I thought Mark Henry was retiring, but every time you think he's gone he show up and wrestles a match or two and then goes back into obscurity.
- I would have saved Braun for a bit later in the match as he is someone who you want people to really remember and if you have him in too early other stuff can happen later in the match and Braun would become an afterthought, but I guess they knew nothing special would happen later in the match because nothing did, but more on that later. The entire time Braun was in the ring was the best part of the match as it was the only time anything exciting was happening.
- We got our Braun vs Big Show face off and I was shocked just how easy they picked each other up into the powerslam position.
- Glad they had a call back to the Zayn vs Strowman feud.
- Tye Dillinger was the biggest surprise of the match and it wasn't that big of a surprise as everyone was calling for it to happen. He had a better showing than I thought he would.
Entrants #11 -15: James Ellsworth, Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin, Kofi Kingston, & The Miz
- I didn't like that James Ellsworth got so much time and was stalling so much even though it was Braun in the ring. I would have had Carmella actually get on the mic and tell Ellsworth that if he gets in that ring and faces Braun he will show her just how tough he really is and that he will finally get that kiss he's been wanting. He would have went in there like Superman after that and I would have Braun clothesline him right back out just like Santino in 2009. We didn't need the whole call back spot with Dean as I don't think that was a call back spot anyone was dying to see.
- I really didn't expect to see Corbin be the one that eliminated Strowman, that was a bit of a shocker and makes me wonder if we might get a Strowman vs Corbin match at Mania. He really looked impressive in this match and as much as I couldn't stand him in NXT he is starting to grow on me more and more each week.
- Kofi's near elimination spot was pretty weak this year and wasn't that creative and felt a bit lazy by the writers.
- The Miz who has been one of the focal points of Smackdown since the brand split felt like just another guy during this match, sure he stayed in a while, but he did nothing special and for most of the time I forgot he was in there.
Entrants #16-20 - Sheamus, Big E, Rusev, Cesaro, & Xavier Woods
- There was nothing special that happened between these five entries. The only somewhat highlight was Cesaro swinging a few people.
Entrants #21-25 - Bray Wyatt, Apollo Crews, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, & Luke Harper
- I liked how Cesaro & Sheamus eliminated all members of New Day at once as this shows that they are the only team New Day can't get the best of. I didn't like when Jericho eliminated Shesaro right after that as they should have stayed in a bit longer.
- Ziggler came in on fire hitting super kicks on everyone, but then became just another guy which is not good after he is suppose to be a new hot heel which is even more reason why he should have started the match as he would have credibility for lasting so long.
- Once all three members of The Wyatt Family it got interesting as I have been enjoying this story of the dissension in the Wyatt Family. I was shocked that Harper took Wyatt down before he did Orton, but it made sense after what happened on Smackdown. I was really shocked and pumped up when he teased Sister Abigail on Bray as I never would have expected that. I'm really curious to see where this story goes now that Orton has won the rumble. Also excited to see a baby face Harper if that's what were getting.
Entrants #26 - 30 - Brock Lesnar, Enzo Amore, Goldberg, The Undertaker, & Roman Reigns
- Brock comes in and cleans house eliminating Ziggler & Ambrose immediately and then lays out everyone else with suplexes. This is great as it's what we expect of Lesnar.
- Not sure what the point was to have a quick elimination with Enzo right toward the end of the match just seems like a wasted entrant.
- Alright here comes Goldberg at 28 and him and Lesnar are going to go at it. Nope Spear and then Lesnar is eliminated like WTF this is becoming false advertisement with these two, it was cool the first time but now that it has happened again what's the point in even keeping Lesnar around after he has been obliterated twice in record time?
- Nice touch to have Undertaker already in the ring and I liked the face off between him and Goldberg, but I don't see that going anywhere so not sure what the point was of having Taker be the one that eliminates Goldberg. If the rumor is true that he is facing KO at Mania then why not have KO come out and distract him and let someone like Wyatt eliminate him.
- Having Roman come in at 30 was just a slap in the face as it was absolutely not needed, I get what they were trying to do setting up a Roman vs Undertaker match at Mania, but there are lots of ways they could have set that match up that didn't involve putting Roman in the Rumble over someone the fans wanted to see. I was for sure once he eliminated Undertaker that he was going to win the match. Thank God he didn't and Orton won, but once we got to the final 3 I was rooting for Bray. I don't mind Orton winning, but I'm not a fan of repeat winners as I like to see new people win each year as winning the Rumble is a way to boost a new star into the next level.
So if you count no real surprises, Roman coming out at #30, wrong entry numbers for certain people, spots where nothing happens, false advertising another epic Brock vs Goldberg confrontation all those things together makes for a disappointing match. Rating: ***
This Rumble show overall will be remembered more for the awesome undercard and not as much for the disappointing Rumble match.
Royal Rumble Weekend Match Ranking
13. Nia Jax def Sasha Banks
12. Becky Lynch, Naomi, & Nikki Bella def Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, & Natalya
11. Eric Young def Tye Dillinger
10. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def Cesaro & Sheamus (Raw Tag Team Championship)
9. Neville def Rich Swann (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
8. Royal Rumble Match
7. Charlotte def Bayley (Raw Women's Championship)
6. Asuka def Nikki Cross, Billie Kay, & Peyton Royce (NXT Women's Championship)
5. Roderick Strong def Andrade Cien Almas
4. Kevin Owens def Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Championship)
3. The Authors of Pain def DIY (NXT Tag Team Championship)
2. Bobby Roode def Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT Championship)
1. John Cena def AJ Styles (WWE World Championship)
I hope you enjoy this review of Royal Rumble 2017 & NXT Takeover: San Antonio please feel free to comment and tell me what you think. You can tweet me @MTW3589
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